Wednesday
08-26-09
Current Word Count: Roller Disco Saturday Night: 199, 039 words [DONE]
What I’m Reading Now: Jailbird, by Kurt Vonnegut
Um. Um.
Let’s take a moment and breathe. Breathe in. Breathe out. Calm.
Seventeen. Now, that’s a magical number, isn’t it? Seventeen. As in: I was seventeen when I read Gerald’s Game for the first time. Or: at seventeen, I was in my first long-term relationship. Or. Or:
I have written seventeen novels.
About thirty minutes ago, I finished up the epilogue to Roller Disco Saturday Night. Then I went and got some hot dogs, because instead of eating, I decided to just write. Part of me wants desperately to go back and write some more - just sixty-one more words. I’m a big fan of round numbers. Still, 199, 039 is nothing to sneeze at, either. Closing in on 500 manuscript pages, this, and that’s … well, that is honestly an accomplishment.
Roller Disco has had a weird history. I started it a long time ago before I knew what I wanted to write about, and abandoned it in favor of my first of several stabs at Tangerine. By the time Tangerine had taken shaky hold, in swept NaNoWriMo, and because Tangerine still wasn’t holding together like I wanted to, I thought I’d take another stab at my book with the funny name. This time, I had a concept: Head of the Class meets Grease 2. Oh yes.
Because, see, people base fiction on good stuff all the time. I thought it would be neat to take my favorite 80s sitcom and try to merge it with my favorite bad movie, as see what happened. What happened is my characters doing stuff on their own accord, one of them really changing, my ostensible main character never really nailing down her own character and way, way too much talk about Steve Gutenburg. Seriously.
The best part about right now is that I haven’t done this since April of last year. My general pace is finishing two novels a year, so to have suffered writer’s block and gone through being let go from my job and having to write to survive, this has been a long time coming. To tell you the truth, I have felt a little like a creative failure. Yes, I got the trivia book done and the chart book written, but my fiction will always be where my heart works best.
Fiction: finally, another book is complete. I have been waiting for this day since November 1st of last year, when I was sprightly and joyous and determined to write 100,000 words in a month. Which I did. And then it only took me eight months to write the other 99, 039 words. I’m not really sure what that says about me. Maybe good things. I never can tell who I am, really, when I’m writing.
Because I love doing this, let’s take a look at my books and how long they all are, shall we? Hooray!
1. Spare Parts (1999) - 52, 036 words
2. I’m On Fire (1999) - 82, 584 words
3. The Eighth Acre (1999) - 63, 892 words
4. Open All Night (2000) - 100, 912 words
5. The Color of Blood and Rust (2000) - 64, 561 words
6. Wolves in the Black (2001) - 84, 182 words
7. Find the River (2001) - 239, 106 words
8. Wade’s Game (2002) - 63, 762 words
9. Roses in the Rain (2002) - 85, 895 words
10. Dry Lightning (2003) - 154, 714 words
11. Carry That Weight (2004) - 111, 191 words
12. The Taste of Concrete on Your Tongue (2004) - 123, 748 words
13. Welcome to Bloomsbury (2005) - 84, 859 words
14. The Legend of Jenny McCabe (2006) - 270, 648 words
15. Maybe You’re Right (2007) - 204, 823 words
16. I’ll Work For Your Love (2008) - 139, 140 words
17. Roller Disco Saturday Night (2009) - 199, 039 words
The next one better be short, that’s all I’m saying. Under 100,000 words, if I can help it. I have a feeling Surprise, Surprise is going to be an epic, and I’d rather Tangerine be a break. Come on, brain, what do you say?
My hope is that this portends good things for the remainder of the day. Right now, all I want is to rest and read and work out hard. I think I’ve earned it.
Current Word Count: Roller Disco Saturday Night: 199, 039 words [DONE]
What I’m Reading Now: Jailbird, by Kurt Vonnegut
Um. Um.
Let’s take a moment and breathe. Breathe in. Breathe out. Calm.
Seventeen. Now, that’s a magical number, isn’t it? Seventeen. As in: I was seventeen when I read Gerald’s Game for the first time. Or: at seventeen, I was in my first long-term relationship. Or. Or:
I have written seventeen novels.
About thirty minutes ago, I finished up the epilogue to Roller Disco Saturday Night. Then I went and got some hot dogs, because instead of eating, I decided to just write. Part of me wants desperately to go back and write some more - just sixty-one more words. I’m a big fan of round numbers. Still, 199, 039 is nothing to sneeze at, either. Closing in on 500 manuscript pages, this, and that’s … well, that is honestly an accomplishment.
Roller Disco has had a weird history. I started it a long time ago before I knew what I wanted to write about, and abandoned it in favor of my first of several stabs at Tangerine. By the time Tangerine had taken shaky hold, in swept NaNoWriMo, and because Tangerine still wasn’t holding together like I wanted to, I thought I’d take another stab at my book with the funny name. This time, I had a concept: Head of the Class meets Grease 2. Oh yes.
Because, see, people base fiction on good stuff all the time. I thought it would be neat to take my favorite 80s sitcom and try to merge it with my favorite bad movie, as see what happened. What happened is my characters doing stuff on their own accord, one of them really changing, my ostensible main character never really nailing down her own character and way, way too much talk about Steve Gutenburg. Seriously.
The best part about right now is that I haven’t done this since April of last year. My general pace is finishing two novels a year, so to have suffered writer’s block and gone through being let go from my job and having to write to survive, this has been a long time coming. To tell you the truth, I have felt a little like a creative failure. Yes, I got the trivia book done and the chart book written, but my fiction will always be where my heart works best.
Fiction: finally, another book is complete. I have been waiting for this day since November 1st of last year, when I was sprightly and joyous and determined to write 100,000 words in a month. Which I did. And then it only took me eight months to write the other 99, 039 words. I’m not really sure what that says about me. Maybe good things. I never can tell who I am, really, when I’m writing.
Because I love doing this, let’s take a look at my books and how long they all are, shall we? Hooray!
1. Spare Parts (1999) - 52, 036 words
2. I’m On Fire (1999) - 82, 584 words
3. The Eighth Acre (1999) - 63, 892 words
4. Open All Night (2000) - 100, 912 words
5. The Color of Blood and Rust (2000) - 64, 561 words
6. Wolves in the Black (2001) - 84, 182 words
7. Find the River (2001) - 239, 106 words
8. Wade’s Game (2002) - 63, 762 words
9. Roses in the Rain (2002) - 85, 895 words
10. Dry Lightning (2003) - 154, 714 words
11. Carry That Weight (2004) - 111, 191 words
12. The Taste of Concrete on Your Tongue (2004) - 123, 748 words
13. Welcome to Bloomsbury (2005) - 84, 859 words
14. The Legend of Jenny McCabe (2006) - 270, 648 words
15. Maybe You’re Right (2007) - 204, 823 words
16. I’ll Work For Your Love (2008) - 139, 140 words
17. Roller Disco Saturday Night (2009) - 199, 039 words
The next one better be short, that’s all I’m saying. Under 100,000 words, if I can help it. I have a feeling Surprise, Surprise is going to be an epic, and I’d rather Tangerine be a break. Come on, brain, what do you say?
My hope is that this portends good things for the remainder of the day. Right now, all I want is to rest and read and work out hard. I think I’ve earned it.